


Stupid Nightmares

by wordsaplenty



Series: VLD Whump Week [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fever, Gen, Sick Character, Sick Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 00:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11886207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsaplenty/pseuds/wordsaplenty
Summary: “Hey Keith, hey you with me?”Keith looked around the training room, “I didn’t go anywhere,” he mumbled.“You kinda did, you were really out of it there and you’re burning up.  How long have you been sick?”Keith seemed confused, his forehead scrunched up in concentration.  “I’m not sick.”**Belated entry to VLD Whump Week: Day 1: Fever





	Stupid Nightmares

The room echoed with the sound of screams. Harsh pants filled the air. Keith was trapped. His arms were stuck beneath his body while his legs were tangled up in something, he wasn’t sure what. He panicked. Frantically he kicked out with his legs in an attempt to dislodge whatever it was that had him trapped. With one final yank the whatever it was that was trapping him gave way and Keith was falling.

With a thud Keith found himself on his bedroom floor. His sheets pooled around him, soaked through with sweat. Shakily, his raised his hands to his hair, pushing it out of his face before grabbing it harshly. Pulling his knees up to his chest he buried his face and couldn’t suppress the growl that had been building since he had fully woken up. 

This was the second night in a row that he had woken from a nightmare. This was the second night in a row that he had soaked his clothes and sheets through with sweat. He couldn’t even remember what it was that left him gasping for breath. 

“Pathetic!” he growled into his knees before climbing to his feet and searching for something dry to wear. A nightmare that he couldn’t even remember shouldn’t cause him to be this weak! 

He made his way to the bathroom, turning the water on in the sink as cold as he could. Looking into the mirror he was disgusted with what he saw. It was like he was looking at a ghost. Sweat still dripped down his face. Hair stuck to his forehead. The only point of color was found in the slight pink in his cheeks.

Appalled, Keith dunked his entire head under the stream of water and kept it there till he felt calm. He toweled off his hair then quickly changed and after one final look in the mirror, made his way out of his room.

Keith found himself on the training deck, not quite remembering the walk there. Shaking his head as if that would clear his mind he set about preparing to train.

Can’t let a stupid nightmare that I can’t even remember knock me down.

Training did little to clear Keith’s mind. It was like a fog was slowly rolling in, dulling his senses. 

Slicing through the final gladiator Keith threw his bayard on the ground in a huff. Rubbing his palms into his eyes was not helping to clear his vision or lessen his headache.

“Pathetic! I just need to move on, why can’t I move past this stupid nightmare?”

Grabbing his bayard, he stormed out of the training room running directly into a solid wall.

“Woah Keith, didn’t see you there” the wall spoke. The wall’s arms grabbed him before he could tumble to the ground. Keith looked down at the walls hands that were keeping him steady. Slowly he looked up to find it wasn’t a wall but Hunk. Hunk who was looking at him in amusement. Hunk who was saying something. What was he saying?  
“…so I came to find you. Figures you’d be training.”

“Yeah, sorry for running into you Hunk but I gotta go,” Keith said, shaking off Hunks hands.

“Wait, what about breakfast?” Hunk asked.

“Huh?” Keith turned to look at Hunk.

“Like I said, you missed breakfast so I came to find you and get some food in you. Are you ok Keith? You’re looking a little pale there.” Hunk started to move forward, reaching out like he was going to grab him again.

Keith ducked out of the way as gracefully as he could, meaning he stumbled over his feet and rammed his shoulder into the wall. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Keith said, waving off Hunk who had moved forward to help. “I’m just gonna take a shower. I’ll see you later Hunk.”

Before Hunk could argue any further or try to force food down his throat Keith made his escape down the hall. 

If training hadn’t cleared his head a shower definitely would, right?

Wrong! Keith lost track of time while showering. One second he was rinsing his hair, the next he was leaned against the wall with freezing water pouring down on him.  
Quickly he turned off the water, got dressed and went to find some food. Maybe Hunk was right and food was what he really needed.  
Thanking his lucky stars Keith managed to avoid the paladins and Alteans and grab a bowl of something that seemed somewhat appetizing, that he assumed Hunk had left out for him.

Feeling a bit better after scarfing down the food Keith went in search of Shiro, or even Lance, just anyone he could train with. Yeah the training didn’t exactly go well earlier but now he was feeling a bit more lucid, he needed to make sure he kept this forward momentum going.

Rounding a corner Keith ran smack into a wall again. 

“What, Keith, watch where you’re going!”

Not a wall, he realized quicker than last time, but Shiro.

“Hey Shiro, wanna train?”

“Sure but where have you been? We missed you at breakfast and lunch,” Shiro said, looking Keith up and down and looked like he wanted to reach out and grab him.

“Do you wanna train or not?” Keith said, already walking around Shiro and heading for the training room, trying to hide his frustration at having apparently lost more time in the shower than he previously thought.

Shiro jogged a little to catch up with Keith. “Yeah I’ll train with you but are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re not looking too good there and if you missed out on both lunch and breakfast then I’m not comfortable with us sparring.”

“I ate whatever was in that bowl Hunk left out for me” Keith said, picking up his pace. His headache was beginning to come back and Keith didn’t want Shiro to realize, he’d never agree to spar if he knew.

“Okay, okay, I just want to make sure you’re okay Keith, is that too much to ask?” Shiro said with a huff and a fond smile.

Keith just kept moving, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Were the hallways always this shaky? 

Thankfully Keith made it to the training deck without running into anything.

“How about we practice some hand to hand,” Shiro said, looking Keith up and down with a look that Keith couldn’t quite place.  
Instead of responding Keith just got into his stance, arms raised, fists ready, and legs steady.

“Alright then,” Shiro said with an edge of disappointment.

Keith didn’t notice, he was focused on making it through this training session. A nightmare should not be causing him this many problems! He needed to get over it and get back to the way things were before he started having the stupid nightmares that he couldn’t even remember.

The two lunged for each other, Shiro easily dodging Keith’s fist. Shiro ducked down and tried to get inside Keith’s defenses but Keith was faster, bringing up a leg his kicked out at Shiro’s chest. Shiro easily blocked this, grabbing his leg before he could pull it back. Swiping out with his own leg Shiro caught Keith’s, knocking him flat on his back.  
The air was forced from Keith’s lungs, lights began to dance above his head. Were the lights supposed to do that? Did I hit my head? I don’t think I did but it hurts, why does it hurt? 

Blinking hard, Keith brought his hands up to his eyes, pushing down, trying to stop the pain in his head.

“…eith, Keith.” Keith moved his hands and there was Shiro staring down at him. Shiro was offering him a hand and muttering apologies. 

“Pathetic” Keith muttered under his breath. He slapped Shiro’s hand away and got up on his own. This would not get the best of him. He just needed to focus and train harder.

“Again!” Keith shouted. Shiro seemed like he was about to object but then thought better of it. If Keith was going to be stubborn then there was no stopping him.

The two sized each other up again. This time Shiro made the first move. Keith dodged the punch and kept dodging. Shiro was going hard, leaving Keith with no room to rest. Keith was barely managing to dodge and block all of Shiro’s attacks but, finally, he saw an opening. 

Just as he was about to strike out at the opening on Shiro’s left side the lights came back. His vision began to tunnel. 

When did those black dots get there? Is my face on fire? Why is my face on fire? There are more black dots, why are there more? The floor is getting closer, why is the floor getting closer? 

For Shiro it was like someone had cut the strings holding Keith up. One moment Keith was looking determined to take him down, and the next his eyes became vacant and he slumped in on himself, falling toward the ground.

“Keith!” Shiro just managed to get under him to break his fall. Shiro eased Keith down, moving his head so it rested on his legs. 

“Keith! Come on Keith, I need you to tell me what’s going on here,” Shiro said, moving to gently tap Keith on the cheeks in an attempt to get him to focus. He couldn’t stop his shocked gasp with his flesh hand meet Keith’s cheek. 

“You’re burning up! Why didn’t you tell me you’re sick?”

Keith’s eyes were rolling around his head, not focusing on anything.

“Come on Keith, look at me, I need to know what’s going on. Keith!” Shiro got more desperate as Keith’s eyes remained unfocused. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Keith’s violet eyes seemed to focus on Shiro’s nose. Shiro would count that as a win.

“Hey Keith, hey you with me?”

Keith looked around the training room, “I didn’t go anywhere,” he mumbled.

“You kinda did, you were really out of it there and you’re burning up. How long have you been sick?”

Keith seemed confused, his forehead scrunched up in concentration. “I’m not sick.”

“Yeah, yeah you are. Pretty sure you’ve got a bad fever going right now.”

“No, I’m not sick,” Keith insisted, working to push himself up but falling back onto Shiro’s lap when his arms just wouldn’t hold his weight.

“No arguing, you’re sick and we’re going to get you to your room where you can rest,” Shiro said, moving Keith so he was sitting up.

“No, it’s just stupid nightmares, they’ve got my mind all mixed up. I’m not sick!” Keith insisted, his fevered eyes finally landing on Shiro’s.

Shiro pulled Keith the rest of the way up so they were both standing.

“What do you mean nightmares?” Shiro asked as they started to walk out of the training deck, Keith leaning heavily against Shiro for support.

But Keith refused to say anything more. Instead he concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other on the way back to his room. Shiro decided to let it go for now. Keith would talk when he was ready. What mattered now was getting him to rest.

They got to his room and found the bed a mess, sheets still crumpled up on the floor. Shiro didn’t say anything, just changed course towards his own room.

Keith was having trouble focusing and didn’t notice until he was forced to sit on a bed that definitely was not his.

“Shiro?” Keith asked looking up with fever bright eye and two points of pink high up on his cheeks.

“Relax Keith, let me get your shoes off. Then you’re going to get some rest. If your fevers not any better after you get some sleep we’ll head to Coran and see if there’s anything he can do,” Shiro said, finishing taking off Keith’s boots. In one smooth movement Shiro grabbed Keith’s legs and brought them up onto the bed, swinging him around so he was lying comfortably on the bed.

As soon as Keith’s head hit the pillow he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

“Get some rest Keith,” Shiro said, running his hand through Keith’s hair. As he moved to leave the room Shiro was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

“Keith?” Shiro asked when Keith remained silent.

“Stay, please, I can’t…if I close my eyes the nightmare will start and I can’t…” Keith stopped, staring pleadingly at Shiro, with something that sounded suspiciously like a sob escaping his throat.

Shiro didn’t waste any time. He quickly slipped out of his shoes, gently scooting Keith over, before settling down beside him on the bed.

“I’ll keep watch. No nightmares are getting passed me,” Shiro said, gently running his fingers through Keith’s dark hair.

Keith stared at Shiro for a moment, considering his words before relaxing fully into the bed.

Shiro settled on his side and watched as Keith’s eyes closed completely and his face relaxed as he began to sleep. As Shiro’s eyes began to slip closed he could’ve sworn he heard a whispered, “Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> So... first fic ever. Please please let me know if anyone is super OOC, or I guess even a little OOC. Let me know if I messed up in the tags. Any constructive criticism is welcome but will also be met with a lot of anxiety.


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